Lead fishing tackle banned in US in five years

The American Sportfishing Association (ASA), the trade association that represents the recreational fishing industry in the USA, is angered by the ban on lead sinkers and fishing tackle apparently snuck through on the last day of President Obama's presidency.

ASA says on the day before President Obama left office, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued an edict to phase out the use of traditional fishing tackle on the hundreds of thousands of square miles of public lands under its management.

Director’s Order No. 219 will: "require the use of nontoxic ammunition and fishing tackle to the fullest extent practicable for all activities on Service lands, waters and facilities by January 2022, except as needed for law enforcement or health and safety uses, as provided for in policy."

Scott Gudes, vice president of Government Affairs for the American Sportfishing Association, issued a statement of behalf of the recreational fishing industry.

"The sportfishing industry views this unilateral policy to ban lead fishing tackle, which was developed without any input from the industry, other angling organisations and state fish and wildlife agencies, as a complete disregard for the economic and social impact it will have on anglers and the recreational fishing industry.

"In the limited instances where lead fishing tackle is demonstrated to harm local wildlife populations, the sportfishing industry supports actions to minimise or eliminate these impacts.

"However, unnecessary and sweeping bans such as this Director’s Order will do nothing to benefit wildlife populations and instead will penalise the nation’s 46 million anglers and hurt recreational fishing-dependent jobs."

Gudes said a sound, science-driven and durable policy could have been crafted with input from industry and the broader recreational fishing community.

"We are hopeful that new leadership at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will repeal this Director’s Order and develop public policy in a way that is open, inclusive and based on science."

The American Sportfishing Association is the US sportfishing industry’s trade association committed to representing the interests of the sportfishing and boating industries as well as the entire sportfishing community.

There are 46 million anglers in the USA that generate more than $48 billion in retail sales with a $115 billion impact on the nation’s economy creating employment for more than 828,000 people.

The  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages the 150 million-acre
National Wildlife Refuge System of more than 560 National Wildlife
Refuges and thousands of small wetlands and other special management
areas. Under the Fisheries program it also operate 70 National Fish
Hatcheries, 65 fishery resource offices and 86 ecological services field
stations.

You would think fishing industries and government agencies would be able to work together on a phase in of lead-free and environmentally friendly tackle.

New materials for lines, lures and floats with a short life span should also be developed and adapted pro-actively by the tackle industry.

More on the American Sportfishing Association at asafishing.org.